Welcome to Gaia! ::

Between heavy smog and rain, the air could only be described as murky. The city's color was washed out by the gray, week-long deluge.

A young woman found shelter on the stoop of an old cathedral. It looked out of place, between an alley that smelled like piss and the empty shell of a scorched building.

She pulled a blue tarp closer to herself. It was uncomfortable and crinkly, but it was dry. The elf was just waiting for this downpour to end. She just bought some dried plants that needed to stay dry. The place where she was squatting was just a few blocks away.

Hunger and fatigue gnawed at her. Why not take a nap? She flopped over, irritated and uncomfortable, but tired enough to ignore that.

A sudden crack interrupted the sound of rainfall. It came from the alley!

She jumped to her feet, still holding the tarp close. She put it over her head and wore it like a cloak. Once she descended the steps, she squinted through the screen of pouring rain. There was no activity at the other end.

But there was a body.

Now was the time to run.

A young man lay face down at her feet. A bow and quiver was strapped to his back. He was an elf like her, but his skin was the color of dark stone, while hers was light gray. What was he doing out here?

There was a revolver in his hand. She picked it up. The muzzle felt hot in her hands. A bright red spot grew on his white shirt. His blood mixed with the rain.

"Hhrrggn..." The young man moved his hand, reaching.

The woman jumped back in surprise, then immediately scooped him up and carried him away.

***

The man awoke to a dirty, musky smell. Something was poking his back. His heart beat laboriously, but it still beat, to his surprise. A sharp pain rooted itself in his chest.

He opened his eyes to candle light. His dark, slender fingers flexed over the sagged material of an old mattress. A lady sat nearby with her back turned to him, fidgeting with a small bottle. The man tried forced his head forward, curling his spine, but she turned around and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No. Lie down. It's good that you're awake, but lie down. If you try anything, consider yourself dead." She spoke with a hard, raspy voice.

Black, wild hair mismatched her fine face; a narrow nose with a gold ring in it, small chin, and piercing pale green eyes.

Her clothes were practical, a white shirt, white boots, and black shorts with good-sized medicine pouch and a small dagger in a sheath belted to her hips.

"Why would I- aauuhha - try anything?" He gasped, touching his bandages. "What- how?"

"I healed you." She scowled at him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Lannian. Just Lannian. Yours?"

"Aleta Cryso." She scowled at him for a moment. "What are you doing topside?"

Lannian raised his thick eyebrows, "Cryso. I know that name."

"Oh, you're familiar with my family? You know, you look just like him!" She stood up and reached for her dagger.

He sat up. Lannian had genuine fear in his round, red eyes. "Don't- hrrk- kil me! Please! I didn't- I don't want to- aaahhh!" He fell backward, "What did you do to me?"

"I told you, I healed you, but only half way. You won't last very long until I finish the job, but I won't, or I never will, until I know what you're doing here and if I think you should live or not."

Through gritted teeth, "I ran away."

"You're a member of the Maeurden family."

"I think I hate them as much as you do."

"Why? They give you all the s**t you could ever ask for, right?"

He shut his eyes, squeezing out tears. "My brother. He uh, beat me. Everyone knew. Nobody cared. We were the sons of a traitor, but I am too young to ever prove myself and everybody said my mother was impure."

"Do you believe that "impurity" bullshit?"

"No, and I love my mom. I miss her. I- aaauugh- agree with her, with what she did." He was breathing heavily now. " I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill anyone."

"How do I know you weren't sent here?" Aleta asked.

She didn't notice it when she patched him up. He was still wearing the bloodied shirt, although it was half-buttoned. He unfastened it, "Help me."

Aleta pulled his arm out of the sleeve and took a closer look. There was a huge bruise running the length of his ribcage. Pale lines cut across his skin here and there, a record of abuse in his flesh. There was a nasty one running the length of his abdomen.

"What was your brother's name?"

"Zethriel."

Aleta squeezed her eyes shut. For just a moment, she heard his voice in her ear and his knife on her throat.

"He did this to you?"

"Yes."

"Your brother killed my family and he tried to kill me."

Lannian didn't look at her. He wanted to shut off, to drift away. If this girl had left him to die...

"Hey. Drink this. It will heal you from the inside. Salves can only do so much for organ damage, I only stopped the bleeding." She held the bottle near his face, offering it.

"No."

"No?"

He turned his head away, silently.

"Do you wanna to die? You will if you don't drink this."

"I'm sure he's already hunting me." Tears slid down his cheeks.

It took a moment for the words to sink into Aleta's head. "s**t!Did you know he could be tracking you? He could be out there!"

Lannian was still, although his chest rose and shuddered.

"Lannian? No, ******** you! You're not dying and I don't care if you want to!" Aleta ripped the cork off the bottle with her teeth, grabbed his head, and jammed it into his mouth. He grabbed her arms and struggled, but she was stronger than he was.

She removed the bottle once it was empty and held his mouth shut. Firmly, "Swallow. I'll let you go if you swallow. You don't really want to die. You just want to be free, right? Come on, dying is no ******** way of being free, it's just... ceasing to be."

She stared into his red eyes. "We can kill him, you know. Before he kills us."

He swallowed.

Aleta said, "I... I never actually wanted to hunt him down. He lives in the underdark, and people like me are banished from it. They would kill me if I set foot under there."

"Maybe we won't have to go there. He'll find us first, and we'll be slaughtered." He said.

"I'm very capable of fighting and surviving. He didn't manage to kill me, so he probably wants to finish the job." she said.

Lannian stared at the rotting ceiling. "Where's my gun?"

"You're not going to shoot yourself again. I threw away the bullets. You still have your bow and quiver."

Lannian sighed loudly. "Alright. We'll kill him if we cross paths."

***

"I like your skirt."

Two days later, the rain finally stopped. Aleta and Lannian were walking down the street, ready to find some food. Not buy. Find, actually. Finding means stealing in this instance.

"Really? You mean it?" He took the hem in his hands and swished it back and forth against his skinny legs. It was black with blue lace trim at the bottom. "I thought you would find my proclivity for women's clothes strange."

"The only thing wrong with it is the fact that it's dirty and you have nothing else to wear. I don't care if you wear skirts. I shave half of my head and nothing else! Kick a**, take names, and ******** the rules. It don't matter what you do with your body or what you put on it."

For the first time since she met him, he smiled, then walked a little closer to her. Lannian was growing to like her a lot. He liked her scowl-smile, or was that a sneer? She moved through the world with strength and capability, with strong, swinging arms and a long, ridged stride. Her body and presence had weight to it. They were built for different things. She had brute strength, while he had precision

"The bazar is just ahead." Aleta said.

They loitered around, waiting for someone to go on a lunch break.

Finally, "You see that bread stall over there?" she pointed toward a bald fat man, presumably a baker, who was posting a sign on his stall. He smiled at his customer and gestured to his goods, then told the man he would be back at twelve thirty.

"Yeah." Lannian said.

"I want you to distract that guy watching the stuff, just like we practiced."

He nodded and they strode up to it.

Lannian addressed a tall man in a black bowler hat. "Hey, excuse me. Do you uh... know the way to the horse fountain? It was sculpted by my favorite nineteenth century artist-"

Aleta swooped in, grabbing two rolls at a time and stuffing them into a backpack. Lannian pulled out a huge map, and glanced at her, giving a quick nod. She nodded back, grabbing a rye loaf.

"No, that's the wrong horse fountain."

She was getting kind of greedy now, taking two pound cakes.

"Are you sure it's on the other side of town?"

Five muffins.

"Ah, no! The OTHER horse fountain the one by uh... Reginald!"

"HEY!" Someone spotted her. Aleta stopped what she was doing and ran.

Lannian thanked the man in the hat, and followed her.

The fact is, nobody gave a s**t about chasing two homeless teens just for stealing bread, except for maybe the guy who cared enough to yell at them. Even the hat guy looked the other way and stayed where he was.

Aleta laughed, relieved. "Hey. Good job back there. I knew you were useful."

"Thank you." Lannian said.

She handed him a chocolate muffin, and she started eating one herself. "This is great and all, but we need money, you know."

"Great? It's... thrilling!"

"Oh no."

"Money, you say? I think we should... pickpocket!" Lannian grinned.

"We got a badass over here!"

"You don't think I could do it?"

"Nah, it's just that- GET YOUR TWIGGY a** BACK HERE!"

Too late. He was already across the street, following a person with a suspiciously wallet-shaped bulge in their pocket. He followed them until they sat on a bench near a crosswalk. He tried to look inconspicuous, watching the walk/don't walk sign. He snuck behind them as they leaned forward to light a cigarette. Then his skinny, sticky fingers snatched the wallet.

The person's head snapped up, attentively and they turned around to face him, "Really, kid? Give it back."

Lannian smiled nervously, waved, then tore his way across the street, into oncoming traffic.

He waved the wallet above his head, "I got it!"

He saw her just moments before impact.

It felt like he was a small animal getting hit by a very squishy wrecking ball. Lannian was suddenly on the ground with his breath knocked out of him.

It took him a moment to scream, but he certainly did. "AAAAAHHHH! CARRRRSS!"

Luckily, this street had a bike lane and that is where he and Leona landed. Aleta couldn't get to them. She darted into the street once or twice, unsure if she should cross.

He held the wallet close to his chest. "Uh... um... no."

The light went red, and Aleta strode up to both of them. Seeing them together, it was clear that they were both homeless.

"Put him down." she said.

((I feel like she should've said "let him go", but whatever.))

Aleta didn't feel too attached to this guy. Was he a friend? Not now, maybe never. Yet, the desire to protect him was irresistible.

She justified it by thinking he will be useful. Leona was a small threat, but she could still call the cops. If he was anyone else, she would've let him go, right now. This kid could be a liability. Despite knowing his way through several languages, he had no street smarts.

"Yeah, I guess so. I told him not to ******** do it, but he ******** did. You see, we need the money." Aleta said. She took a deep breath, "We don't have parents. I think he has a dad, but he probably doesn't want to see him again, understand?"

Aleta raised an eyebrow, "Where are we going?"

"Yeah, and why?" Lannian said. "Are we going to the police station? Are you turning me in, ma'am?" He wrung his hands and frowned in an almost comical, exaggerated way.

Both of the elves stopped and stared, for entirely different reasons.

It had been years since Aleta had seen a furnished room, where people actually lived. The walls were clean, the air was clean, everything was so clean! "Oh my god, is that air conditioning? Fuuucckk yeeess!"

She ran to the kitchen, quickly finding the sink and twisting the cold knob. "AHAHAHA RUNNING WATER!"

Lannian grimaced when he stepped on a pizza box from last night. "It's nice, but it's so... boring." The walls were pretty bare and the windows were uncovered, "It's too bright."

"I heard that! Don't complain, Lann." Aleta appeared again, "Hey Leona, can I take a shower? Him too?"

The boy looked to Leona, "Do you have any food?"

They were both in the kitchen. Aleta was wiping her face and arms with a towel and Lannian was gathering the ingredients for a sandwich, muttering something about dijon mustard.

Being the polite person he was, he put about a quarter of Leona's fridge on the counter, then dragged Aleta away from the sink.

"I am Lannian, son of Talynrae." It felt good to introduce himself alongside his mother's name. He bowed low, offering his palm, surprised when no one touched it.

Aleta bumped him with her hip and he snapped up, embarrassed. "That isn't how we say 'hi' up here." She cleared her throat, "My name's Aleta Cryso, what's yours?"